Dundalk manager Vinny Perth has expressed frustration that he is set to lose his assistant head coach Ruaidhri Higgins.
The club confirmed on Tuesday evening that they have received an approach from the FAI for the 35-year-old from Limavady.
He is set to become part of Stephen Kenny's Ireland management team which already features Keith Andrews, Damien Duff and Alan Kelly.
Higgins, who won a league title with Dundalk as a player in 2014, has been Vinny Perth's assistant for the past 16 months.
"It’s disappointing that a member of staff that I rate so highly has been approached to move elsewhere," Perth told Dundalk's club website.
The manner in which the approach was conducted is something that I’m not happy about and I will leave that with our board of directors and the FAI to deal with.
I feel very strongly about protecting our staff and players and the board have been exceptional with this since I took over. We have people under contract and those contracts need to be honoured and respected.
The FAI announced on Tuesday that Higgins is one of 20 coaches to have been accepted on to the association's latest UEFA Pro License course.
"We fully understand that this is a wonderful opportunity for Ruaidhri," Perth added.
"I have always said that to win a league title you need league winning staff and I have definitely had that. He has played a key part in our success.
"My job now is to protect Dundalk FC and I have time on my side to make whatever decisions need to be made over the next couple of weeks."
Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
